At the recent MainTrain 2006 conference in Toronto I was a member of the "Maintenance Masters" panel together with Dr. Jay Lee (University of Cincinnati) and Ken Bannister (Engtech Industries Inc). We were all asked what we saw as the biggest change coming in the world of maintenance management in the next 5 years. My answer was a bit different than those of my co-panelists. Clearly there will be plenty of technological development, increasingly capable systems to help us manage, new developments that will propel the capability to delivery higher reliability and results, but that's not the biggie in my view. I envision that companies will start to make different choices about the value of people in order to change from their present states. Huh? What's that mean?
They will realise that the types of solutions they've been seeking so far, are just not working for them and they will choose differently. The solution we all like to talk about will truly come to the forefront.
That may not sound so earth-shattering but there's a deep message in it. Many companies are trying to improve their performance - operational excellence isn't an option, it's imperative in today's highly competitive global market. Technical or other "silver bullet" solutions tend to deliver short term gains at best. For truly sustainable benefits, companies will begin to get out of their short term mindset and realise that long term gain requires long term thinking and commitment.
Successful companies that are poised for sustainable growth don't think and act in the short term. They are concerned about quarterly results but not at the exclusion of long term growth. Just look at Toyota for an excellent example. It is highly successful in the short term (today) but is well poised for phenomenal growth. It is clearly poised to overtake GM as the world's largest auto-maker. And it won't do it solely through superior technology - quite the contrary.
What does long term success require? Long term thinking and acting. A choice to see and go for the "big picture" even if it means short term pain and cost. Technological solutions alone cannot do it for you. It requires people to be intimately involved in every solution and to remain committed, motivated and even inspired! Creativity from within will be a hallmark of successful companies. Today it is counter-culture in North America but it is the answer. To quote Dr. Lee in a personal meeting that I had with him, "offshore automotive companies have already eaten our breakfast, if we don't wake up soon they'll get our lunch and dinner too". We won't rely on the creativity of others and a quick purchase of some slick technology as we have been doing all along. That isn't working. We will shift our focus onto people - your number one asset. Companies will stop paying lip-service to that concept and they will start to choose people first.
From that choice we'll survive and excel in the global market. Continuing on our present technology driven path will ultimately fail.
